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lemonfrog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Gore and War
Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Vomit
corvuscorax's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and War
Moderate: Rape
obczytane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and War
imaginefishes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting
cherub__'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Despite never having served in the military (much less in WWII), It's one of the funniest, darkest, most unnervingly familiar books I've ever read. Many of the same criticisms of American life could be translated into 2023 and still be just as accurate as they were 70 years ago. Many passages feel as if they were written from a "greatest hits" reel of comedy skits in the 1960s, and it surprises me to learn how few of them have ever been attempted to be filmed. Nevertheless, the comedic brilliance is surrounded by a horrific backdrop of insanity that keeps ratcheting up, chapter by chapter. The slow, methodical descent from absurd nonsense to hysterical, deranged insanity echos the methodology of The Turn of The Screw (though clearly the styles are significantly different). Catch-22 poses as a comedy but is closer to a horror novel, which seems to be the essence of its satire nature.
I'll be thinking about this long after I put it down, and maybe in another 10 years I'll give it another re-read and find I've missed something again.
My only criticism is that the earlier chapters can be slightly repetitive. However, this is offset by the later half of the novel, where the continued repetition and callbacks to such serve to emphasize the visceral horror of what was previously considered merely absurd.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and War
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is a dark and twisted comedy. The dialogues feel like a twisted conglomeration of Monty Python, Alice in Wonderland, and M* A* S* H* with a peppering of Dr Seuss, Billy Wilder, and Abbot and Costello. From the outset you feel sure that the protagonist is a little mentally unwell, and slightly paranoid, but you soon see that there is a lot of it going around, and that they are all crazy like foxes. I kept being reminded of that quote from the movie Pump up the Volume, "you're not screwed up.. you're an un-screwed up reaction to a screwed up situation".
I think this book is about equal parts gut-bustingly hilarious and unsettlingly horrific. Through satire and parody it jabs ceaselessly at the heroism of industry and Capitalism, corruption, the glory of war murder, the need to rescue women who are in charge of their own lives, the confusion of love and lust, confusion, certainty, certain confusions, and confusing certainty.
Parts of the story are clearly hyperbole. The absurdism is rife. I'm astounded that I haven't heard more of the punchlines of these jokes in my everyday life, but maybe I have and I was just not keyed into it. It's all incredibly convoluted. The story is told in anecdotes from the points of view of various people around the protagonist. There are recurrent gags, and retellings of parts of the plot from different people, and this all feeds into the feeling of being unsettlingly adrift, and carrying on through a haze of unreality peppered with déjà vu (or déjà vécu, or presque vu..) where you see things twice, or miss them altogether.
The entire army situation is painted as blustering generals vying for status, while underfunded and overworked conscripts are roped into unwinnable situations, glory projects cost lives, bureaucratic shuffling means everything is officially lost in translation, or redacted, or just lost, and side-hustlers make out like bandits. Every sensible supposition is questioned and turned on its head, even the useful ones.. and it's all incredibly frustrating. You have to laugh or you cry and that combat, high-tension gallows humour is all you are left with... that and the haunting echos of trauma.
This is probably well worth a reread, or I may leave it on as background noise if I want a certain sort of dark chuckle.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Antisemitism
lordhaku's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and War
lastonedown's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicide, and War
Minor: Medical content and Murder
yeah_sure's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, and War
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Murder